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IJ’s first road show stop in Mill Valley

I want to thank all who came out — along with those who tuned in virtually via our liveblog — for the IJ’s first stop in a Marin County road show Wednesday night.

IJ editors and reporters appeared at a forum in Mill Valley in what became a lively discussion with some 20 residents. Yes, we suffered some slings and arrows, and yes, we were hailed for

IJ Editor Robert Sterling discusses community journalism in a talk at the Mill Valley Public Library.

the hard work we do. More importantly, we heard your concerns — many of which we share — and we got to meet you face to face. It was a good session; I’m looking forward to more. (See my previous posts on this subject here and here.)

I’m setting up additional meetings, but here’s the schedule so far. Forums are planned for 7 p.m.:

Dec. 10 at the Marin City Library, 164 Donahue St.

Jan. 15 at the Novato Public Library, 1720 Novato Blvd.

Feb. 6 at the Corte Madera Library, 707 Meadowsweet Drive.

Discussion included concerns about lack of comprehensive coverage in cities, frustrations tied to getting news and announcements into the paper, questions about our editorial endorsements and specific complaints about delivery service and TV listings. I’m taking notes; I can’t promise we’ll address all your concerns, but we heard you loud and clear.

And yes, we heard some nice compliments, including from one man who declared: “I cannot imagine life in this community without the IJ.” Bless you, sir!

Here’s a basic text of my introductory comments:

I’ve dedicated my career to community journalism not just because I love writing and editing and observing first-hand the life of the community where I live. But also, primarily, because I care deeply about the vital, historic role newspapers play in public life.

At the IJ, many editors and reporters before me over many, many years have built a strong foundation of trust with our readership. That trust is sacred to me and those of us who work here.

It does not mean that you will always agree with our decisions, either in what we decide to publish or how we decide to handle a story. It doesn’t mean you’ll like our editorial opinions or columnists. You may get frustrated with us for any number of reasons; that’s to be expected. Also, we are not perfect. We make mistakes.

But it’s important to us that the community trust us as a forthright, independent voice willing to listen to all points of view; deliver the news fairly, honestly and accurately; and offer clear-eyed commentary. That’s our responsibility, and we take it seriously.

Against that backdrop, the IJ — like newspapers across the country — has had to come to grips with massive changes brought on by an electronic communications revolution. There has been a financial impact, and we do have a leaner staff, and we have had to make adjustments because of that. That has been a big challenge and will continue to be so.

But it has also forced us to rethink how we do our jobs. It’s not just that news is no longer confined to newsprint, and that readers in droves are getting their news on cellphones and tablets and via Facebook or Twitter.

It’s also that we find ourselves immersed in a communications soup, enveloped by interactive media: in many ways our thousands of readers are our eyes and ears — you can give us, instantly, an incredible feast of eyewitness accounts and photos and videos, and we can react instantly. Our reporters have the ability to report the action at a meeting in real time, post immediate photos and video clips and respond to readers’ questions and commentary even as a news event is unfolding.

How we handle that as a news organization, mindful of our dedication to fairness and accuracy and our community trust, is one of the big challenges we face in the coming years.

For me, this is an exciting time to be involved in community journalism. Like the others here tonight, I have seen many changes in the news world over the past 30 or 40 years — none so dramatic and challenging as I’m seeing now. We’re here tonight because amid all these changes, we want to be sure we’re in touch with you — we want to let you know of our challenges, but we also want to hear thoughts on news coverage from people like you, who make Marin such a vibrant community and a great place to live and work.

“The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”–Thomas Jefferson